New favorite place

Colorado is rad. RAD. RADICAL. ColoRADo.

On the way back from Denver this weekend, I stopped atop 12,126′ Cottonwood Pass. I haven’t explored much more than the surface of this area, even though it sits less than an hour from my house. Shame on me, because it’s awesome.

Friday and I ventured along the South Texas Creek section of the Colorado Trail and were rewarded with blankets of alpine meadows, lush forests and solitude. Five minutes from the busy summit of Cottonwood, we found ourselves in secluded, peaceful wilderness. It seems like most people are like me: have been to the top but never really explored it.

There were several times during our run/hike that I paused to acknowledge how amazing the scene was. I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “We’ve got it made.” And we do. We live in a spectacular area of the world and have the freedom and ability to experience it at a whim.

After exploring the trail for a bit I decided to gain a few nearby summits. We worked our way up a few unnamed 12ers and called it good at 12,600′. Training is going well. Really, one of the best parts of this whole trip is having a built in excuse to get out and play. Yeehaw.

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4 responses

Mark Krasovich

Dude, the last time I camped up there on Texas Creek I had a moose walk through my camp, had a small visitor try to get into my tent at 1am, and woke up to bear tracks. Caught lots of fish too. Great place to explore! – mark

Hi Gar, Just read your blog, WOW! I’m very impressed and I’m glad it’s you and not me. No kidding, it sounds as though you’re getting some good training. What an awesome adventure is before you! I’m quite a proud grandma. May I put your essay in our little newspaper that we print here? I need to brag a bit. Be careful, be smart, and have fun. Love you very much. Gr. K